HMS Bellerophon by flyer - FINISHED - Amati/Victory Models - scale 1:72

[ErnieL]

 Brilliant build so far!

 

i just received this kit as well, and Bellerophon is my eventual unlucky victim as well, so I’ll follow closely.

[flyer]

18 foot cutter

One special feature - and probable inaccuracy - which was disturbing me with the launch made even more problems with this small cutter: The false floor is too high above the keel. With the 1mm thick floorboards the launch's floor is quite high up.

With the cutter that problem is severely aggravated. To gain some space below the thwarts they were placed as high up as possible. I also used 0,5 mm thick deck planks, cut to a width of 2mm to plank the floor which gained me another half mm (I was really desperately looking for some space). Even so the cutter looks somehow flattened. By filling much of it with equipment I hope to mask the missing depth.

For the wales and the cappings of the sides I took only 1x1mm strips instead of 2x1. That way the proportions seemed more harmonious for such a small boat.

The cutter was placed in the launch and both boats equipped with the kit's oars, boathooks and grapnels. Additionally both got a rudder with a tiller and also the removed thwarts and a water barrel were placed within the launch.

 

While working on the boat  also finished the poop and quarterdeck barricades with hammock nettings and the sand buckets.

 

 

the small cutter with its rudder

 

the skipper checks the completeness of the equipment

 

the launch with equipment

 

poop deck barricade

 

quarter deck barricade (I see that the top of the hammock nettings need some reworking.)

 

the launch on the beams

 

an overview of the work done in this chapter

[Martin W]

Hey Peter -- I see what you mean about the height of the cutter's floor, but doubt I would have noticed if I hadn't been looking.  Once you get all the rigging done, that detail will probably disappear behind all the other details to look at.

 

Your yards etc look pretty good to my eye.  That flattened area (hecadexagonal -- with the x instead o c, maybe?  it makes sense in Greek) in the center is always a teaser.  I tried out a few yards before my move up here and threw them all away for much the same reason you stated -- they were either too thin or uneven in the flattened areas.

 

Anyway, it's nice to follow your progress, since I am still a way off from getting my boatyard established.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[flyer]

Hi Martin

 

Yes, I do hope to cover all sorts of mistakes with rigging and sails - and hope to make no new ones there...

 

And you are of course right with the x. The c doesn't make any sense in any language including mathematics.

 

Despite the boatyard being still under construction I hope you feel already a bit at home at your new location.  It's probably easier to relocate far away but still in the US than moving the same distance over here - I would have to start living in Casablanca or Moscow to travel as many miles as you and this would be a completely different world.

 

Cheers

Peter

[Martin W]

You're right, Peter, it was a long drive.  And even though it's technically the same country, Connecticut and Oklahoma are pretty different from one another.  I haven't checked out any of the wine you mentioned, but I have had some local beer, and it's definitely potable.

 

I'm itching to get back to work.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[flyer]

Main Mast

 

It was built similar to the mizzen with the same small changes to topmast- and topgallant mast-feet.

 

I've got the impression that the width of one mast top and the foot of the next upper mast should be the same, in order to fit both cleanly between the trestletrees. So again I had to double up the mast feet.

 

The upper crosstrees are rather delicate parts and I successfully broke a couple of ends off before strengthening them with some epoxy glue. Perhaps it would be better to provide them as photo etched metal parts.

 

Also installing the rack with the boarding pikes was some fiddling work. Finally I had to drill out the holes of the metal rings to fit the pikes properly.

 

 

Details of the main top without platform yet. The topmast even has a correct octagonal (instead of round) lower end. Of course nobody will ever notice it on the finished model.

 

 

the nearly finished main top...

 

 

...is quite impressively high above the deck.

 

 

topmast top

 

 

foot with boarding pikes

 

 

the masts are only provisionally stepped

[mort stoll]

impressive, very nice, very very nice.

 

mort

[Martin W]

Fiddling work indeed, but neatly done.

 

The shot looking down to the deck is great!

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[Mirabell61]

excellent build so far Peter,

 

Nils

[flyer]

Forming the octagonal centre section of a yard

 

Nearly all yards have an octagonal centre section.

Especially where no battens are used to strengthen the center section (according to Lees' Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War all yards which were made of just one single piece of wood) I wanted to make the largest possible octagon out of the given round dowel.

 

To find how, I used some half forgotten trigonometry:

 

Starting with filing the first plane which would form the first face of the octagon I had to find out how much to reduce the dowels diameter and what width I could expect.

 

(α is half the centre angle of one face of the octagon. That is 360° : 8 = 45°. Thus α = 22,5°.)

 

On a 4mm dowel for the main topsail yard I had to reduce the dowel by 0,16mm. The face width is about 1,5mm.

 

After filing that face I turned the dowel by 90°, filed a further face an so on, until I had a square with four very round corners. Then I turned it by 45° and repeated the process. Fortunately my vice has a convenient opening to hold a  square with its edges upmost.

 

After finishing the centre section I had  of course to rework the ends to get the necessary tapering.

 A tapered octagon was filed and with the yard put into a simple drilling machine the outer parts were worked round with sanding paper.

 

That way I got a topsail yard with a width of about 3,7 mm over two opposite octagon faces out of a 4mm dowel.

 

It's not as complicated as it sounds and you could use the same principle to form the centre section with a milling machine (and the ends with a lathe).

[Martin W]

Trigonometry?  Yikes!  That takes me back to the traumas of high school. 

 

But your very practical explanation of the procedure is helpful, Peter, and when/if I ever manage to get my new shipyard set up I'm going to keep it in mind.  It's the masts & spars that I need to start on, and I've got the wood, I'm just waiting, waiting.

 

Cheers,

 

Lento Martin

[flyer]

Hi Martin

What trigonometry is for one, is a Language for another. Although I love the French, I never mastered their language. It consists only of irregularities!

On the other hand trigonometry seems quite straightforward once you found somewhere a right angle. So whenever I have a problem, I start to look for right angles - but never found one in French.

Good luck with your new shipyard!

Cheers

Peter

[flyer]

Making the three yards was time consuming. The main yard is huge - it's as long as the lower main mast.

According to Lees, the prototype yards are made of one piece of wood, if possible. If no suitable wood was available, e.g. the yard was just too large, then it was made of two parts, joined in the middle. That joint was  strengthened with battens.

 

Obviously for the original ship it would have been difficult to find such a single piece of wood  to make a main yard. So I simulated a yard made of two parts with battens strengthening the centre. But I put on eight battens contrary to the arrangement with only 4 according to the plans.

 

As I understand Lees, only spars which were made of two parts did have battens, but then eight of them (or 16 in case of the crossjack).

 

The topsail yard and the topgallant yard are supposed to be made from one piece of wood each, so no battens were added. Attaching all the blocks, footropes and stun sail booms was done according to the plans.

 

yardarm of the main yard with stun sail boom irons

 

main yard

 

finished main yard compared to the mizzen mast

 

 

center of the main yard

 

main topsail yard

 

main topgallant yard

 

all three main mast yards

[md1400cs]

Peter your stun sail booms are excellent. I need to learn how to solder hmmm

 

Cheers,

[flyer]

Hi Michael

 

Thank you, but it's just the ingenuity of the kit.

 

The yard end cap with its two arms is one etched part. You just bend the arms at 90°. The end ring (which should be broader, but is an usable approximation) is a second part together with its arm. There you bend the arm and stick its end into the hole in the middle of the end plate of the first part - after deepening that hole carefully into the Yard. The two iron bands are strips of cartridge paper glued on. Then paint all black and voilà. The inner ring is similarly constructed, also of two parts.

 

I know a bit of soldering. That would be quite easy especially if you don't have to worry about cold junctions. However such brass parts should better be brazed for stability and that's a bit trickier.

 

Anyhow I think you don't need to worry about stun sail boom irons for now. I believe they came into use in the middle of the 18th century.

 

Cheers

Peter

[flyer]

32 foot barge

 

Alternating between building one mast and one boat was a good idea. That way I generally look forward to building the next mast or boat and enjoy the change. And building that many boats actually is fun. It's fascinating how one can form all those different small hulls with relative simple means.

 

One of the problems of those boats - the floor set too high - was overcome this time by reworking the bulkheads to set the floor lower and then thinning the floor itself. For floor planks I used again 0.5mm planks cut to a width of 2mm. On the third try the inner depth of the boat now looks acceptable.

The barge was finished again with an additional rudder (placed inside) and its gudgeons.

 

When placing the barge on the beams I found not enough room between the launch and the rail on the inner side of the gangway. It seems that the skipper ordered slightly too large boats. Leaving off some of the stanchions was a solution which could work on the prototype as well.

 

barge with planked floor

 

 

finished and equipped barge

 

barge on the beams - the rail should be sufficient, despite the partly missing stanchions

 

the coxswain is checking his work place

[TBlack]

I know it's a bit of a back track, but how do you get the footropes to hang so nicely?

Tom

[flyer]

Hi Tom

Fix the finished yard horizontally, soak the footropes with diluted PVAC glue, hang clips in regular distances onto the footrope to create a natural hang and let dry.

I could include a picture when building the next yard.

Cheers

Peter

[TBlack]

Peter,

Thanks for the prompt reply. Picture not necessary. I get it. Last time around I tried super glue which didn't work so well.

Tom

[Martin W]

Your strategy of alternating sounds good, and if I ever manage to get back to work, I plan on following it.

 

Those are nice boats, and they add quite a bit of visual appeal.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[flyer]

Bow and figure head

While working on the foremast and yards I frequently came across the figure head and realized that some additional work was required to 'marry' Bellerophon properly with the bow. Sitting on the simple step it looked more like a randomly placed passenger than a quite important part of the ship.

I started to gnaw at the bow with various instruments (file, Dremel, knife etc.) to make a snug seat which allowed back and head to be in contact with the bow.  I'm sure those figures needed a tight sit as they were exposed to quite some weather. Bellerophon is still provisionally attached. With the final fixing I will see that no light will pass between bow and figure, making it more an integrated part of the bow than just an addition.

 

Bellerophon sitting rather exposed on the unmodified step

 

modified step

 

 

better fit

much better

 

 

foremast is ready, still working on the yards

[flyer]

Fore mast

 

The fore mast and its yards were made similar to mizzen and main. While working on them I realized that about now it was time to put in those sheets which led through the sheave blocks and are belayed below the gangways. Anyhow I have to think about how to fix the boats on the beams. It seem advisable that they should be easily removable during setup of the rigging and perhaps even on the finished model to facilitate cleaning or repair work in the waist.

 

 

 

sheets belayed below gangway

 

 

 

the 3 fore yards

 

 

 

all 3 masts provisionally stepped

I'm having problems to place the whole model into one picture - still clueless where and how I shall place it when finished...

 

Edited May 2, 2021 by flyer

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

Hello, I've been quietly following along.  Learning quite a bit from your chronicling here.

On 5/1/2021 at 2:03 AM, flyer said:

still clueless where and how I shall place it when finished...

I knew I couldn't be the only one with this problem. 

[Blue Ensign]

Love the lighting in that last photo Peter. 👍

 

If space is going to be a serious problem, you could always display her with  lower masts and standing rigging only and without yards. It is an option I had to take with my Victory build due to the space  issue.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[flyer]

Hi Meriadoc Brandybuck

Thank you.

Yes, however I think that generally space in Japan is much more limited than here. Despite that, my admiralty would object to fill all available space with ship models. Again, I guess, a known problem.

Anyhow Bellerophon will remain in the wharf for at least two more years...

 

Sayonara

 

 

Hi B.E

Thank you for the compliment but frankly one of my fixed lamps broke down and I had to improvise with a handheld one. So the result is just coincidence.

And thanks for the suggestion. Your Victory (Heller?) looks great. Did she just come back from cape Trafalgar? I like your way to present her much better than those sawed off mast stumps or nearly bare lower masts you occasionally see. It is an option but still I would like to set at least a few sails and I already laboured on those upper masts and yards...

 

Cheers

Peter

 

[Blue Ensign]

I appreciate your problem Peter,  I too would be reluctant to cut a build short having put the work in, and Bellerophon would look magnificent fully masted and rigged.

 

I had prepped the Topmasts and the Main Yard for Victory when reality cut in and I had to accept that I simply didn't have a suitable location for a fully rigged version, the house is already full of models.

 

My solution was to rig the topmasts in the lowered position using the heel ropes to secure, a sort of re-fit display mode.

 

I have now given up building large square riggers to avoid the torment of the decision making. 🙄

 

B.E.

 

[flyer]

Hi B.E.

This solution of yours is very clever and looks really good. Presenting the model in a tangible situation with the details such as masts, sails, boats arranged accordingly ads plausibility. I prefer this to a somehow artificially admiralty model. Those are truly great as well, but also exceed my skill level.

Might I ask about how many ship models make your house filled up? Bellerophon is my 8th, but one was given away.

Cheers

Peter

[Blue Ensign]

I hesitate to say Peter, but there are 15 placed around the house, 1 wip, and 1 under the bench.

 

There are also several laid up in ordinary in the loft.

 

You can probably deduce why I am now concentrating on relatively slim models. 🙂

 

B.E.

[flyer]

28 foot pinnace         

The assembly of the last of the boats followed the example of the others. The equipment includes rudder and tiller in addition to the kits oars, boathook and kedge anchor. Only the rowlocks hat to be made separately of 0,5mm wire as thole pins. They are not just notches in the capping as for the other boats.

I had the bosun try to rearrange all the boats on the beams and to fit them better between the rails guarding the waist. No success - he ended up the same way as before with the starboard rail only partly in place.

The hammock cranes along the waist on the starboard side were put in place and hammock nettings installed.

 

                                                                                                                                    

finished pinnace

 

 

all boats on the beams

 

 

starboard hammock cranes finished

[md1400cs]

Peter,

 

I really like this shaping detail - I don't remember if you covered that earlier - in any case I need to copy that 😉 . May I ask how you made that shape?